Page 114 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“Of course, darling.”

When she’d fought Amber, her wolf side had taken over. She remembered nothing but the blood she’d had on her hands. As the brunette approached, she saw the twinkle in her eyes that told her Amber was determined to get her revenge.

“I don’t know what’s so special about you anyway,” Amber said as she grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her to her knees. “You’re weak. You reek of human. You’re shameless.”

Amber punctuated her sentences with slaps that felt stronger than before. The magic could have somehow enhanced Amber, but Layla knew her inability to fight back was more than that. She was broken. A large part of her was missing, and it had somehow weakened her. Her wolf wasn’t going to come to her aid.

She looked at the people who had walked in with Zach and Amber. Unlike the beefy guys who’d pushed her down, she sensed their hesitation and felt a little hope. They didn’t seem as enthusiastic. As she wiped the blood off her face and spat it out of her mouth, she sensed their unease. Maybe they would step in to help her.

The baby started to whimper again, and something shifted inside her as she pushed to her knees again. She knew it was the wolf. Hope had been the only thing the wolf had responded to since Jackson had gone.

‘Do something,’ she begged as she looked up at the woman who had started to advance on her again. ‘Hope needs us.’

In any other situation, she would have started fighting back already, even before knowing anything about werewolves. She would never have taken this shit lying down. What was wrong with her? She had a baby to protect, and she was failing even at that.

Amber stopped and gave her a cruel smile.

“Maybe we should meet the future Queen,” she told Zach. “Why keep someone you know you won’t be able to control?”

Cold seeped through her body at those words.

“I have plans for her. Don’t touch her,” Zach answered.

And then white-hot fury replaced it. She turned to look at the man, and her fists clenched. A slight haze formed over her vision before it became crystal clear. So clear she could see the way Zach’s Adam’s apple bobbed when he met her gaze. She could hear the skipped heartbeats as he took a step back. Smell the fear. So much fear.

She knew her eyes were glowing without having to look in a mirror. Every part of her came to life as she rose and faced the man ‘who had plans’ for her daughter.

“What are you waiting for? Get her!”

Amber swung at her, but some sixth sense saw it coming. She grabbed the fist aimed at her head and turned to look at the brunette. And the fear in the room multiplied.

She was ready to end all the threats to Hope’s life when she felt it.

The anxiety. The rage.

And she heard the huge paws thundering on the ground as he got closer, moving faster than anything she had ever known. It felt like magic, and yet she knew it wasn't. It was Jackson, proving he was the menace he’d said he was, the one they were all supposed to fear and not fuck with.

Relief flooded her body, and she loosened her hold on Amber.

He was alive. The man she loved had not been taken from her.

The mood in the room shifted when they finally sensed the danger approaching. Zach tensed and then moved behind his beefy men.

“Impossible,” he whispered.

Jackson was at the front door before any of them could run.

Except for Amber. The brunette gasped and then rushed to the window. She jumped the exact moment Jackson appeared in the doorway—red-eyed, naked, filthy, and larger than life.

He appeared to move faster than lightning and grabbed Zach by the throat. The older man didn’t have a chance to say anything before his throat was ripped out, and he was flung to the floor. The two beefy guys joined him seconds later, their blood gushing freely from their throats as it mixed with Zach’s.

And then Jackson turned to the onlookers at the door.

She had sensed their unease and regret even before Jackson had turned up, but those filled the room now, along with their terror.

“No!” she said, stepping into Jackson’s way before he reached them.

Jackson looked down at her and then at the people behind her.

---